


Translation

by RenaRoo



Series: Cass Appreciation Prompts [6]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-18
Updated: 2015-06-18
Packaged: 2018-04-05 00:57:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4159542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RenaRoo/pseuds/RenaRoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cassandra was given the chance to change her mind, to think like everyone else. But in that process, she lost the only things she truly knew.</p><p>[Reference & Quote Issue: Batgirl (2000-2006) #6]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Translation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [the-haunted-banjo](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=the-haunted-banjo).



> Prompt: ( the-haunted-banjo ) If you’re still doing angst prompts: Cass freaking out right after her mind gets re-ordered because a large piece of how she understands and interacts with the world has been taken away and replaced by this new and confusing and not altogether helpful thing (and possibly extra panic because she’s been on the streets and on the run for such a long time that she’s hyper-vigilant all the time) (bonus points if you alter the style to fit Cass’s new viewpoint)
> 
> A/N: I apologize so much for how long this has taken me, and for how short my writing ended up being. I don’t think it was worth the wait, but I thank you so much for the prompt, it was such a wonderful one <3 I wish I’d done it justice
> 
> [Reference & Quote Issue: Batgirl (2000-2006) #6]

_Gotham City. Gotham City. That just... **sounds** right.  
_

_Mailbox. Van. Razor.  
_

_It’s strange how naming... **changes** things.  
_

_I’ve walked these streets... every inch of this city... but I never had **the words.** Never knew the names. Now... it’s like it’s all changed. All new. Or maybe... Maybe it’s **me** that’s changing._

* * *

I... watch. Am watching?

Oracle--Barbara--Batgirl -- No. **No.** _I’m_ Batgirl.

Swing swing swing -- the... sticks. Escrima. They are... Filipino. No, that’s not what I need. I need to know **how.** Not _what.  
_

_Swing swing_ \-- that’s the movement. But in words. They’re not. It’s not. What I **need.  
**

Hit. She hit me. She never hit me before. Not my skin, just knocked away my sticks before. No one can touch me.

 **Could.** It is past tense. I am not.

I am... defeated. Again.

Barbara looks at me. She’s...

Sad. Confused. Thinking. 

Those are words. They’re not the feelings. I know them. But I’m not... 

I’ve never worked this way before. Words. They changed everything. 

I never wanted to know the words. I already knew the world. I didn’t need them. I didn’t want this. I did. I **didn’t.** I did. I wanted to hear what she said, what **he** said. What _they_ said. 

I wanted to said back. _Say.  
_

_Damn._

She offers her hand. I take it. I get up. No, she **helps** me get up.

I... **glare.** I never wanted her help. She wanted this. I did, but she **needed** me to have this. But now... now she can defeat me.

She never could before. No one could.

Now...

“You’re hesitating too much,” she says.

I spit at the... _mat._ I know. I already **know.  
**

“I’m... _thinking_ ,” I say back. 

Thinking isn’t feeling. Isn’t **doing.** Isn’t **moving.  
**

I’m...

_Distracted._

“It might just take a while to get used to,” she says.

Batman. He’s coming soon. I have to **beat him.** If I don’t beat him... he’ll say I’m not _Batgirl._ I _am_ Batgirl.

It’s all I am now.

“Cass...”

“I don’t... **like** this,” I say. I throw arms, I stomp. I’m. _angry._ ”Why did you... want this? For me?”

She’s. Confused. Upset. Stern. “I didn’t do this to you, Cass.”

I **point.** At her. “You _wanted_ it, though.”

“I wanted to talk to you, yes,” she says. She’s going fast. Would’ve been **too** fast before. Still a little fast now. Headache... “And you were happy when it happened. When you came to me. You wanted to talk to me, too, Cass. This is a challenge, but we can work through it. Together--”

I’m... not crying. Tears anyway. I’m **angry.** Not _sad._ “You could have learned **my** way,” I say. “No one **tried** my way.”

She frowns. “People just don’t think that way, Cass. The way your mind worked was alien to us. We would have had to rewire everything we knew.”

Laugh. It hurts, but I laugh. Angry. _Bitter._ “That’s what I did for you,” I say.

Walk away. Now I’m crying. Don’t need Barbara to say that. Wipe it away, go to train. _Alone.  
_

I have to beat Batman. Have to stay Batgirl. 

It’s the only thing left I **know.**


End file.
